Do actors who appeared on HBO's legendary Jersey-gangster drama have a higher rate of criminal-justice contact? Or is it just click-baiting by news desks? SDB looked into it.

Were strange things afoot at the Bada Bing? Click here to read the full story, or get it in your inbox ad-free with a paid subscription…

I won't bury my own lede here: I don't actually think actors from The Sopranos figure in IRL crime stories at a higher rate than any other show. It's not impossible, and I'll talk more about why I can't get definitive in a sec.

But it's more probable that an alleged perpetrator's association with the prestige drama, no matter how fleeting, 1) guarantees a certain subset of eyeballs, on a story that likely sinks like a rock without the Sopranos hook; and 2) facilitates art-imitating-life heds, which, I get it. I could act like I've been better than the occasional "Class Ayyyy Felony" headline my own self, but I ain't been.